Your Voice: Makes Sense To Keep Trained Workers

April 17, 2001|By ALFRED LITTLE JR.

Letter

The Daily Press ran stories, an editorial and an opinion column suggesting that Newport News Shipbuilding has laid off production and maintenance employees based on "phony claims" that these employees are medically restricted from working in the shipyard.

Then, on April 10, you ran additional articles describing differences of opinion within the union that represent our production and maintenance employees.

It is our policy not to respond to specific personnel issues written about in the press. We prefer to resolve these complaints through our normal grievance appeal procedure.

After very careful consideration, however, I decided to respond on behalf of the company. I am responding because of our strong disagreement with the assertions made in the articles; the indefensible and unfair attacks you made on certain management employees, and because of your decision to report on the internal operation of the union that represents our employees.

Newport News Shipbuilding makes every effort to provide a safe working environment. Our record and recognition by OSHA demonstrates our success. When employees do get injured, we try to find work that these employees can perform inside the yard. When we do not have appropriate work available, we seek opportunities for them outside the company. We have placed many of our injured workers through these procedures and will continue to do so.

You reported that some 300 employees have been "passed out" on medical restrictions. While there have been a number of "pass outs," these numbers are grossly overstated.

We object to reporting that attempts to tarnish the reputations of David Tornberg, our company physician, and foreman Neal Brooks.

Tornberg is a skilled and caring physician. He was asked to examine an employee with medical issues and he did so. He then made a judgment based upon pre-existing written medical and surgical records and his personal examination.

Tornberg plays no role in determining what work may or may not be available based on any limitations.

In the case of Brooks, he was looking out for the interests of his employee by assigning him work within what he and the employee understood to be his medical restrictions.

Your story suggested that these management employees were part of some conspiracy, which is untrue and insulting. The memo from Brooks that you quoted was not a "smoking gun" as you implied. It was a document the company prepared and submitted to the union to explain the circumstances involved in a specific employee's grievance appeal.

In fact, your selected quotes ignored earlier portions of the memo that showed both Brooks' genuine concern for his employee's medical condition, and that employee's concern about performing work that could result in re-injury.

With regard to the assertions by people you interviewed and columnist Jim Spencer that the company finds it cheaper to hire new workers at a lower rate of pay and lay off more experienced workers, your economics and assumptions are inaccurate. It is not our goal to lay off anyone. There are substantial recruiting and training costs associated with hiring new employees. In many cases, the company also makes workers' compensation payments to workers who were passed out.

When everything is considered, it makes good business sense to keep our experienced workers, including those with medical restrictions if they can safely and productively perform the required work.

Newport News Shipbuilding, like any other large unionized manufacturer, receives many grievances a year. But we have procedures in place to fairly and correctly deal with these appeals. This process is part of the contractual agreement between the company and the union to resolve disputes and it has served the parties well for many years.

Why not give the parties involved and the agreed upon appeal procedure an opportunity to work? What good is accomplished by producing stories with inaccurate and misleading information?

Little is vice president for human resources and environmental health and safety at Newport News Shipbuilding.